Venom
by TheCone Esq
Summary: The venom flows through the poisoned rose.
1. Chapter 1

Ruby danced through the Grimm, hacking left and right with her massive scythe. "This is easy!" Ruby thought gaily as she cut through the Beowolves like butter. While the darkness the Grimm represented was strong, that darkness had some trouble existing when a girl like Ruby was around. Especially when she was waving one of the most dangerous weapons ever built.

Hearing a clacking behind her, Ruby spun to meet the new threat, conveniently slicing through the last standing Beowolf as she brought Crescent Rose around, ready to fight.

What she saw confused her for a moment. It was definitely a Deathstalker, but it was so... small. "Small being relative," Ruby thought with a wry smile. The Deathstalker was easily the size of a horse, but that was still a step down from the massive scorpions that she usually had to fight. "Hey, Weiss!" Ruby called out to her partner. "Come check this out!"

As Ruby's attention shifted for just a moment, the Deathstalker made its move. The scorpion's tail lanced forward, far faster than any Deathstalker Ruby had ever encountered. Using her Semblance, Ruby managed to spin out of the way of the stinger diving toward, though not enough to dodge a long, shallow cut along the outside of her arm. "Ouch!" Ruby yelped, a bit surprised that she had been wounded. As she turned back towards the small Deathstalker, she was even more surprised to see it launched into the air on a pillar of ice. "Now, Ruby!" a high pitched voice called out from across the clearing, just as a cluster of glyphs locked the Deathstalker helplessly in midair. "Take it down!"

Shaking off her surprise, Ruby leapt into the air with the help of a few shots from Crescent Rose. Somersaulting in the air to add extra power to her strike, she drove Crescent Rose's long scythe blade down into the Deathstalker's exposed chest, embedding the blade up to the haft. The glyphs holding the scorpion vanished, and it fell to the ground with Ruby on top of it. Pulling Crescent Rose free, Ruby folded Crescent Rose into its storage mode, and then turned to meet her... partner...

Weiss surveyed her and Ruby's handiwork with satisfaction. "That was a good combo for killing such large enemies" Weiss though, pleased. "I'll have to remember that one." Something caught her eye, however, and she stepped forward, examining the Deathstalker She and Ruby had just killed. It was definitely smaller than usual, and the normally light orange eyes and stinger seemed to be tinged green. "That's unusual..."

Weiss turned to ask Ruby what she thought about the Deathstalker's strange features, but was slightly interrupted by Ruby nearly tackling her. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyy, Weissy!" Ruby squealed wrapping her arms around Weiss' neck.

Weiss, for all her training, was taken slightly off guard by all of this. As she tried to dispel the slight blush that was tinting her cheeks, what Ruby had said hit home.

"Did you just call me... Weissy?" Weiss asked, altogether unsure of what was happening. Ruby responded by nodding furiously, a wide grin spreading across her face. "May I ask why?"

"Because it sounds cute and nice." Ruby chirped, still grinning and hanging off Weiss' neck. Abruptly changing the subject, Ruby said, "Have you ever thought about how pretty and colorful the world is?"

"Umm..." Weiss said, a bit nonplussed. "Not really... I guess?"

"Just looook at it!" Ruby cried, gesturing around at the scene around them. "Blue like the sky, brown like the trees, green like the leaves..."

Weiss mentally slapped herself, trying to regain control of where this conversation was going. She hadn't taken years of etiquette and diplomacy lessons for this girl to turn her into a confused mess! She had to admit, Ruby's proximity wasn't helping. "Ruby," Weiss pointed out, trying to calm the girl down, "We're in Forever Fall. The leaves are red."

"Red!" Ruby cried out, the sudden change in volume almost deafening Weiss. "Red like roses!" A small giggle escaped the girl. "Hee hee, I'm a rose."

"Ruby, are you feeling alright?" Weiss asked, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy with the whole situation. While being a cute dunce was par for the course, this was a bit out of character for the younger girl.

"Weiss!" Ruby suddenly interjected, her face deadly serious. Weiss felt a flutter of panic rise in her, though she carefully kept her face neutral. Ruby's next words dispelled any worry she was feeling, however.

"Do you... like roses?"

"Erm... sure I guess. They're pretty, and they do smell nice." Weiss replied, still a bit confused as to what was happening.

"Okay, that's good then." Ruby said happily, her face returning to its previous grin. She went back to naming colors, for a reason Weiss had yet to discern. "Yellow like the sun... white like snow..." At that, Ruby paused again. "I like snow. Snow is fun. Snow can be pretty too."

Even more confused now, Weiss turned to see the other half of Team RWBY walk over a crest on the far side of the clearing they had been fighting in, with Yang talking animatedly to Blake. Suddenly painfully aware of how close Ruby was holding her, Weiss tried to extricate herself from Ruby's grip, but to no avail.

"Hey guys, how did you d-" Yang stopped short as she made sense of the tangle of Ruby and Weiss. Her eyes flashed red as she asked, quietly and dangerously, "Weiss, what the HELL are you doing to my sister?"

"The question is what is your sister doing to ME!" Weiss cried shrilly, trying to defuse the situation while Blake looked on, vaguely amused. "Damnit Ruby," Weiss whispered, "get off me!"

Ruby, however, still seemed to be in her own little world. She pointed towards Yang and shouted, "See! Yellow like the sun!" With Yang now looking almost as confused as Weiss, Ruby switched her attention to Blake. "And black like... like..." Ruby trailed off, looking confused.

Yang took advantage of Ruby's silence to ask, "Is she okay? You don't have any booze out here or something do you?"

"Of course not," Weiss said, scandalized, "She's underage! We're all underage!"

Yang shrugged. "Never bothered me-"

"Black like a KITTY!" Ruby loudly interjected, grinning proudly up at the rest of her team as she shifted her grip on Weiss' neck, foiling all of the Schnee's attempts to free herself.

Blake flinched noticeably and looked around frantically, making sure no one had heard Ruby's exclamation. While her team knew her and accepted her as a Faunus, Blake wasn't quite ready for anyone else to know. "Ruby!" Blake whispered forcefully, "What the hell are you doing? You know that's a secret!"

Ruby, once again, ignored the rest of the world and continued to grin widely and hug Weiss. Now all confused at the younger girl's antics, the rest of Team RWBY looked at each other.

"Well, I guess we should head back," Yang volunteered. "The time for the rendezvous with the rest of the teams must be getting close by now."

Blake and Weiss both nodded, and with Weiss half-dragging Ruby, the foursome turned and began to walk towards where they were meeting the other teams before returning to Beacon.

They had been walking for less than five minutes when Ruby's grasp suddenly slipped from around Weiss' neck. Weiss turned, cursing herself for how she missed the warmth, and looked at Ruby.

What she saw there chilled her blood. Far from the bouncy, silly girl that had been pointing out colors just minutes before, Ruby was now staring down at her hands with genuine fear on her face.

Weiss stopped, and told Yang and Blake, "Wait. I think there's something wrong with Ruby." Something in her voice got both girls to whirl around, apprehensive as to what could be the problem.

Yang stepped towards her younger sister, reaching out to grab the young girl's shoulders. "Hey Rubes," She said softly, "Is there something wrong"

"I... um... I..." Ruby stuttered, looking confused now as well as scared. Suddenly, Ruby's eyes widened and she brought both hands up to her mouth and began to cough, a hacking cough that shook her shoulders and seemed to stagger her. The coughing stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and Ruby slowly brought her hands down from her mouth.

Hands that were now sticky with blood.

"Oh no..." Yang breathed as Weiss gave a yelp and even the normally calm Blake started as they stared at Ruby, her hands stained red.

"...it's cold..." Ruby murmured as she began to shake. Eyes widening, Ruby reached out towards Weiss. "Weiss, why is it so cold? WHY IS IT-"

In the middle of her scream, Ruby suddenly froze, completely unmoving. As Weiss, Blake, and Yang stared at her in horror, she simply tipped over like wheat before a scythe, her red cloak fluttering as she fell. A moment of silence passed as the three girls still standing stared at each other in shock, comparing the still girl on the ground to the normally so animated Ruby.

The silence was broken when Ruby began to whimper in pain.

Blake, the most accustomed to such situations from her days in the White Fang, was the first to move. She pulled out her scroll and hammered Beacon's emergency number into the keypad. As she stared at the device, willing it to connect, Weiss and Yang dropped to their knees beside Ruby.

"What can we do?" Yang shouted helplessly, panicking a bit as she stared at her younger sister. "There must be some way we can help!"

"Umm... Umm..." Weiss stammered, too flustered to remember any of her classes on first aid. Breathing deeply to calm herself down, she began to look Ruby over. "I... I think first we need to figure out what's wrong with- " Weiss' voice caught in her throat as she moved Ruby's arm and saw the long thin cut that the Deathstalker had given her. The edges of the wound had turned a dark, necrotic black, and Ruby's very flesh around it was turning a sickly green that Weiss knew she would remember for the rest of her life. "Oh my god..." Weiss breathed in horror. "She's been poisoned..."

"Then what can we DO?" Yang shouted again. "She's going to die! We have to do something!"

Behind her, Blake let out a cry of relief as her scroll finally connected, as far as they were from civilization. Before the operator even had a chance to speak, Blake said into the scroll, "This is team RWBY. Our team leader is down, and I'm not sure what's wrong with her. Please send us help!"

The voice on the other end of the scroll was calm and professional. "Alright, stay calm and stay where you are. Keep this call open so I can triangulate your position, okay? You should be no more than ten minutes out, so there will be a med airship with you soon." The voice softened a bit, undoubtedly aware of the young age of the girls on the other end of the line. "Everything is going to be fine. Just hang tight."

Blake looked towards the other girls, her face a mix of hope and fear. "Ten minutes or less," She told Yang and Weiss. "Is... she going to make it?"

Weiss looked towards Blake, then back to Ruby, unable to find her voice. Yang, however, managed to sum up her thoughts.

"I... I don't think so..." Yang whispered, choking up as she did so. Tears began to roll down face as she moaned, "Ruby... oh Ruby..." Blake moved over to her and embraced her, holding her as Yang began to sob for her precious sister.

Weiss shook herself, refusing to accept this turn of events. She was a Schnee! She had trained for years to become the most perfect person possible, and now, even with all her skills, was her partner really going to die in front of her? She wracked her brain, trying to come up with something, anything that could save the precious girl who had become her friend. Suddenly, an idea sprang to her mind- a terrible idea, but an idea nonetheless.

"What are you doing?" Yang hiccuped as Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster, cycling the chamber to a light blue Dust. "I'm going to freeze her." Weiss replied with more confidence than she felt. "If I can put her in stasis, maybe the poison will be slowed, or even stopped.

"Are you insane?" Yang shouted through her tears, impotent anger finding an outlet in Weiss. "Are you trying to KILL her?"

Weiss shouted right back. "Look at her Yang! I have to try something!" The mask of perfection Weiss always held slipped a bit as she stared at Yang, revealing the terror and desperation underneath. "Yang, she's going to _die_. I have to try something, _anything_." With Yang momentarily cowed, Weiss switched her attention backed to Ruby, noting with pain the way she had become deadly still, her whimpers the only proof that she was still alive. Laying Myrtenaster's blade flat on Ruby's chest, Weiss took a deep breath and called on her semblance. Glyphs of blue and white materialized above Ruby, floating down like snowflakes to blossom into flowers of frozen Dust on the prone girl's body. As Ruby's body became covered in a glass-like shroud of frozen Dust, Weiss whispered softly, "Sleep now, Ruby. Everything will be all right."

When the airship arrived a few minutes later, Weiss was still repeating those words to herself. As the frozen Ruby was loaded on to the airship, with a few questioning glances shot at the trio of girls by the medics, Yang broke down completely. She cried into Blake's chest as the Faunus girl stroked her hair and tried to conceal her own tears. As the airship took off and sped towards Beacon, Weiss hugged herself and whispered one last time, "Everything is going to be alright."

* * *

><p>No symbolism here. Nope, not at all.<p>

Anyway, hello everybody, and thank you for reading my story. I'm thinking this one will be a fairly short story, but we'll see. Either way, I hope you enjoy it!

Please leave a review with criticsm or complements, that will really help me write. Even if you just want to yell at me for having Ruby brutally murdered by a flesheating poison, I'll take that! If you review with an account, I will try to answer back, 'cause that's always fun.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a full day before Yang, Weiss, and Blake got any word of Ruby's condition. A full day of worrying for Weiss and Blake, and outright despair for Yang. Their dorm seemed empty without Ruby bouncing off the walls or rallying the team for some crazy new idea. When the announcement finally came over the intercom to report to the infirmary, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were very nearly at the end of their ropes.

As Team WBY walked through the doors to Beacon's in-house hospital, one of the best in Vale, they were met by a tall man in a white doctor's coat and wireframe glasses. "Hello, young ladies," the man said in a deep rumbling voice, "My name is Dr. Redmond. I assume you will want to see your leader."

Dr. Redmond lead the three girls deeper into the hospital, stopping in front of white door with the inscription "Rose, Ruby". Without further ado, Dr. Redmond opened the door and let the girls in to the medium-sized white room where Ruby slept.

Yang, Weiss, and Blake were met with the sight of a pale but healthy looking Ruby sleeping with white sheets pulled up to her chin, and an IV drip attached to her arm. The three girls immediately rushed to her side, with Yang reaching out and almost grabbing Ruby in a hug before the doctor cleared his throat.

"Please, Miss Xiao Long, let her rest a moment longer." Doctor Redmond told Yang, pulling out his scroll and tapping it as he did so. "I suppose you will want to know the extent of her injuries before we go further-"

"What's wrong with her, doc? Why isn't she awake?" Yang cut in, desperately wanting to make sure for herself that her beloved sister was alright. Dr. Redmond looked her in the eye and said soothingly, "Deep breathes, Miss Xiao Long. Your sister has been in a medically induced coma since she was brought in, and we have only just made preparations to bring her out now." With Yang calmed by his soothing, professional demeanor, Dr. Redmond looked at his scroll for a few moments, then continued. "Ruby Rose was brought in with the report that she had been poisoned while fighting a group of Grimm. While unusual, this has happened before." The doctor paused for a moment, looking at the group of young girls around him. "Though I will say I have never seen a venom so... destructive."

"Destructive? What do you mean?" Blake asked, frowning. "What... did it do to her?"

"Excellent question, Miss Belladonna." Doctor Redmond replied. "Most venoms attack a certain organ or system in the body, attempting to disable the victim in some way. This venom, however, as more... indiscriminate. For a start, it ate through her aura, no easy feat. This is most likely why Miss Rose was reported to be acting strangely after she was poisoned- her body was fighting the venom with her aura." Doctor Redmond broke off, making eye contact with each of the girls before his eyes settled on Ruby. "After depleting her aura, the venom began to deteriorate nearly every system in her body. This, in addition to mild frostbite, was the state we received her in."

Weiss flinched noticeably at the mention of frostbite, and Yang shot her a venomous glance. "See what you did?" Yang hissed, though her heart wasn't in the rebuke. Doctor Redmond turned to Weiss, asking, "Was it you, Miss Schnee, who put her in that block of dust?"

Weiss nodded, her eyes fixed on the floor as she cursed herself for hurting Ruby even more. She was somewhat surprised when the doctor reached out a hand and patted her shoulder. "That was good thinking, Miss Schnee." Doctor Redmond said in his deep voice. "It slowed the progress of the venom. Miss Rose was in bad shape when she was handed over to us by the paramedics- I cannot guarantee she would still be alive had you not done that."

Weiss, despite the situation, couldn't help but smile slightly. Her plan had worked! She had saved Ruby! Her moment of elation was brought crashing down by Doctor Redmond's next few words. "However, I have not gotten to the worst of Miss Rose's injuries."

"What could be worse than her whole body being destroyed?" Blake asked, putting an arm around Yang as the blonde girl flinched at the thought of worse things happening to her dear Ruby.

"Those injuries, while serious, were easily solved." Doctor Redmond replied. "The application of healing dust was able to bring her out of the danger zone, and young Miss Rose has a powerful aura to heal her. However..." Doctor Redmon paused, gathering his thoughts. "Do you three know what the blood brain barrier is?"

Weiss and Blake nodded, while Yang looked confused. "Umm... the what?" Yang asked, frowning as she slipped out from under Blake's arm and moved over to where Ruby slept.

"The blood brain barrier, Miss Xiao Long, is a precisely what it sounds like: a membrane that prevents harmful molecules in the blood from moving into the brain. In this case, however..."

Weiss gasped, and Blake her hands over her mouth in shock. "You don't mean... Weiss whispered, a brand new fear moving through her.

"Yes," The doctor confirmed, mostly for Yang's benefit. "The venom was able to infiltrate Miss Rose's brain. The imaging we have done points to the sections of her brain associated with memory, emotion, and speech sustained heavy damage."

"Didn't you just... you know... use healing dust on her? Yang asked, a note of desperation entering her voice. Weiss was feeling the desperation as well. All the joy she had felt, knowing she had saved her partner, was now frozen in her chest. While she hadn't taken a huge number of anatomy classes, she was certain that any damage in Ruby's brain could change who she was...

Or make her never wake up again.

Answering Yang's question, Doctor Redmond said, "Sadly, no. We don't really understand how the brain works, but it has been proven to be too complicated for healing dust. The results of such a procedure are... not good."

As silence descended on the group, with Blake and Weiss joining Yang next to Ruby's bed and hugging one another to numb the pain, Doctor Redmond cleared his throat again.

"Auras are capable of incredible things, so she might pull through unharmed. Either way, I have chosen to move ahead with her resuscitation." Reaching into a cabinet on one of the walls in the room, the doctor pulled out a hypodermic needle and a small medical kit. Moving over to Ruby, he moved the covers slightly to expose the young girl's arm, and began to swab a place on her upper arm with a cotton ball. As the sharp smell of alcohol filled the room, Yang asked slowly, "What are you doing to my sister?"

Doctor Redmond replied, "This shot contains stimulants that will bring Miss Rose out of her coma. She should wake in less than half an hour." As the doctor pulled the cover off the hypodermic needle, he smiled disarmingly at the young group of girls. "I assume you will want to be here for that." Without further ado, the doctor pushed the needle into Ruby's skin, depressed the plunger, and then covered the place of the shot with a small bandaid. "Now," Doctor Redmond said to the three girls, "You ladies just have to wait. I have other patients to attend to, but I will return later. Hopefully Miss Rose will be awake by then." With that, Doctor Redmond exited the room, leaving a silent team RWBY behind him.

If the day long wait for news on Ruby's condition was bad, to Weiss the quiet room was ten times worse. She and her teammates huddled together as they stared at Ruby, waiting for a twitch of an eyelid, an intake of breath, anything to show that the girl was going to be okay. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the young Rose breathing softly in her sleep.

Finally, Yang broke the silence. "Guys... can we talk about something? It's... too quiet." Neither of the other girls answered immediately, still looking at Ruby's sleeping face. Finally, Blake chimed in, "What is there to talk about? Maybe you should just appreciate silence once in a while, Yang."

"I can appreciate silence!" Yang pouted, seeming hurt. "I'm sure you can," Blake replied,rolling her eyes, "So why don't you try to exercise that ability more?"

"Hey, are you saying I'm too loud?" Yang cried, before realizing what she was doing. "Okay," she admitted, "Maybe you're right. Maybe."

Weiss turned away from the two, sighing at their antics. She, for one, felt like this was not time to be joking. Weiss hadn't had a friend in a long time, and definitely not one like Ruby.

Sighing again, Weiss' eyes fell to Ruby, again looking for a sign of life...

She yelped when she found Ruby staring back.

At the sound of Weiss' yelp, Blake and Yang spun to face her and Ruby, both having similar reactions to Ruby's sudden life. "Ruby!" Yang cried, a weight lifted off her sisterly heart, "You're okay!"

Yang and Blake hugged, almost jumping for joy. Weiss, attempting to maintain her calm Schnee demeanor, couldn't stop herself from reaching a hand out towards the young girl on the bed, who was still being strangely quiet.

When Ruby flinched away from the outstretched hand, a look of fear and confusion on her face, Weiss felt the same tightening in her chest that she had just before Ruby collapsed. Something was wrong...

Yang had no such compunctions. She pushed past Weiss, ignoring her surprised "ah", and wrapped her younger sister in a hug. "Oh Ruby, I'm so glad you're okay!" Yang shouted, tears beginning to form in her eyes despite her joy. As Ruby struggled weakly against the hug, Yang simply tightened her arms, overjoyed at the recovery of her younger sister.

Then Ruby managed to yank an arm free, curled her fist, and punched Yang in the jaw.

Eyes widening, a hand going up to the place where Ruby had slugged her, Yang reeled back. Her tears began to flow free as she stared, hurt, at her younger sister. "Ruby... what...?" Yang whispered, all her joy gone in an instant.

Ruby met her gaze head on. Ruby wrapped her arms protectively around herself, eyeing Team WBY with a mix of anger and genuine fear. Ruby opened her mouth as if to speak, frowned, and closed it again. She continued to stare down the girls around her, as if daring them to make another move.

Team WBY was, to say the least, confused. Ruby was awake again, but... at the same time she was not. Her silver eyes, normally so full of life, seemed dead and dull in a way Weiss knew would haunt her dreams for quite some time. Weiss stepped forward uncertainly, and Ruby glared at her like a cornered animal. The ferocity in those dead eyes threatened to stop Weiss in her tracks, but she refused to be so easily cowed.

"Come on Ruby, it's me! It's your partner, Weiss!" Weiss crooned as she stepped towards Ruby, hands held out non threateningly. Ruby seemed to relax slightly at the tone of her voice, but when Weiss got close enough to touch her, Ruby's body stiffened again as she again flinched away from her partner.

As if on cue, the door to the hospital room opened, and Doctor Redmond stepped through. He took quick stock of the situation, looking from Weiss, standing next to Ruby's bed wringing her hands, to Yang crying into Blake's shoulder, to Ruby's dead gaze that was now fixed on him. "What is the problem here?" Doctor Redmond asked, frowning. "Miss Rose appears to be awake."

Yang turned to him, her eyes full of tears. "She... she... she hit me! Ruby wouldn't do that!" Saying it out loud made Yang burst into tears again, and Blake once again pulled her into a hug.

Doctor Redmond's frown deepened, and he walked over to Ruby's bed, giving Weiss a comforting pat on the shoulder as he passed her. He bent down to put his eyes on the same level as Ruby's, asking, "What seems to be the matter Miss Rose?"

Ruby opened her mouth, but closed it with another frown. The doctor leaned back and stroked his chin thoughtfully, seeming to think hard for a moment. He nodded thoughtfully, and asked, "Miss Rose, can you understand me? A nod will suffice." Ruby nodded slowly, shooting glances at Weiss, Blake, and Yang as she did so. "I thought so." Doctor Redmond continued. "In that case, do you know who I am?"

Ruby slowly shook her head. With a heavy sigh, Doctor Redmond asked one final question. "Do you know who these girls are?"

Ruby shook her head.

Every single one of the older girls flinched, and Yang began to sob again, though this time her tears were answered by Blake's, who hugged Yang even tighter as the two tried to come to terms with what had just happened.

Weiss was too shocked to even begin to cry. Ruby didn't remember her. She _had_ lost her Ruby. Weiss brought her hands up to her mouth and closed her eyes, the pain momentarily too great to handle. _And I thought everything was going to be okay..._ Weiss thought. _What a fool._

Doctor Redmond turned to the distraught girls with a grave look on her face. "I feared something like this would occur. I believe the damage to Ruby's brain was great enough to do two things." The doctor sighed heavily and looked at each girl in turn before continuing. "I believe Ruby's memory has been damaged, and her ability to speak has gone as well. Physically, she can talk, but the part of her brain responsible for that speech is too damaged to function anymore."

The silence in the room was deafening, with the exception of Yang's hiccupping sobs. After there was no answer for a few moments, Doctor Redmond turned back to Ruby. "Get some more sleep, Miss Rose." He told the young girl. "It seems you aren't out of the woods yet."

As Ruby lay back down on the bed, though without taking her eyes off the group around her, Doctor Redmond said to Team WBY, "We are going to have to keep Miss Rose for a little while longer, it seems. Now, I'm going to have to ask you three to return to your dorms."

"But... wha..." Yang blubbered through her tears, desperately not wanting to leave Ruby's side. Weiss was slightly more coherent in her response. "Sir, is she... is Ruby going to get better? What's going to happen to her?"

Doctor Redmond looked at her for a moment, and said matter-of-factly, "I don't know. I will have to run a few more scans on her to understand more fully the extent of the damage. As for recovery... auras are capable of miracles beyond what medicine can bring. Her recovery is possible, though I will say this: it is not likely. As to what happens to her from here... I will bring this matter to Ozpin."

Pausing before continuing, Doctor redmond began to move Team WBY out of the room. "Regardless, staying here will only cause more pain for you three." The doctor cracked a sad smile as he said, "I know she was your friend, but nothing can be gained by staying. We will do everything we can to bring your Ruby back to you. Trust us."

Grudgingly, Blake, Yang, and Weiss filed out of the hospital room, Blake and Yang still supporting each other. As the three girls trudged back down the hallway and out the door to leave Beacon's infirmary, Weiss turned left as Yang and Blake went right to return to their dorms. In response to Blake's questioning look, Weiss mustered a smile and said, "I think I'll go to the library. I need to calm down a bit." The faunus girl looked at her strangely for a moment, then nodded quietly and continued walking with the distraught Yang.

As soon as Weiss rounded the bend from them, she slid to the ground against the wall in the empty hallway. Bringing her knees up to her chin, Weiss began to cry like she hadn't cried in years. A part of her, the Schnee part, screamed at her to get up. The rest of her, however, knew only despair. Weiss had felt that Ruby was so special, so precious, and now she was _gone_. Ruby was still there, still breathing, but that didn't mean anything if Ruby wasn't _Ruby_.

At that thought, the weight of the situation hit Weiss all at once. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed even harder, crying for all the time she had spent alone, times that had been ended by a little girl in red. As Weiss cried, there alone in the hallway, she could only muster one thought.

_Ruby... oh Ruby..._

* * *

><p>I may have lied about the whole "murdered" thing. Kind of.<p>

Anyway, second chapter! Such a happy story so far, isn't it? More importantly, update schedules. I am quite bad at the whole "deadline" thing, so I can't really promise anything, but I hope to have about 2 weeks between chapters. I can dream, at least.

As always, please review, and I'll answer the ones I can. I need the motivation, at least.


	3. Chapter 3

Two days later, Ruby walked into Beacon's cafeteria.

The entire lunch room quieted for a moment, everyone turning to look at the young girl. It was no secret that something had happened to team RWBY's leader, and everyone was curious to see what had happened. After a moment though, everyone looked away, and the cafeteria returned to it's previous level of noise.

Team JNPR and RWBY, however, did not look away. It had been a difficult two days for Weiss, Blake, and Yang. While they knew she was alive, at least, that was not as much comfort as it once was. Team JNPR, on the other hand, were more glad to see Ruby moving about again. While they had been told that Ruby had been asleep, the only other information they could get was a muttered "She isn't the same" from Yang before the blonde had returned to her room to mope.

Jaune waved to Ruby, calling out, "Hey Ruby! Come sit with us again!" The young girl paused for a moment, glanced down at her scroll, and walked towards lunch lady to grab her lunch. After taking a simple meal, the first thing she could reach, the redhead began to walk over to her team's table.

Ruby sat down next to Weiss and wordlessly began to dig into her food. After a moment's silence, Jaune spoke up.

"So Ruby, you're feeling better, I guess? That's great! Classes just haven't been the same without you." Jaune said, smiling at his friend.

The look Ruby gave him as she reached for her scroll made that smile waver a bit. Looking away from him, Ruby tapped on her scroll for a few moments before pushing the device towards Jaune, spinning it so he could see it.

'Who are you again?' The scroll read.

Jaune blinked momentarily as Pyrrha leaned over his shoulder to read the scroll. "Come on Ruby, that isn't funny," Jaune told her firmly, a frown replacing his smile, "I'm Jaune. Don't you know that?"

Pulling her scroll back, Ruby typed a new message before handing it back. Jaune read aloud to the group, "'Nope. Doc said I lost my memories, ability to speak.'" Team JNPR stared at Ruby, then turned to the rest of her team. Blake placed a comforting hand around Yang, lest she start crying again, while Yang simply looked down and Weiss mechanically carried on eating.

Nora was the first to find her words. "So... she doesn't remember any of us? But... but we were friends..." Nora murmured, uncharacteristically somber as she contemplated the loss of one of her best friends. Ren reached over to pat her on the shoulder before turning to Blake.

"Is she going to be all right?" Ren said simply, ever one to get to the heart of the matter. Blake replied, "We don't know. Doctor Redmond said maybe, but..." She left the "but" hanging there in the backdrop of chatter from the rest of the room, as teams WBY and JNPR sat for a moment, contemplating what that "but" would mean.

Seemingly ignorant of the emotions around her, Ruby stood up and began walking towards the utensil kiosk near the center of the cafeteria. Her tablemates watched her walk over and grab a few napkins. "Did... Ruby just go get napkins? For herself?" Pyrrha asked, seeming perturbed. "That's... not like her, is it."

Weiss nodded woodenly. "No, no it isn't. And there is the problem."

Before she could elaborate, a commotion in the center of the room drew their eyes, along with the eyes of the rest of the room.

Their eyes found Cardin and his team standing around- and considering the height difference, over- Ruby, who simply stood there holding a few napkins and staring into the older boy's face.

"Hey, if it isn't the runt." Cardin sneered into the silence that had suddenly fallen around the room. "Word is you got brain damage. That true, little girl?"

Ruby simply stared back at him without answering (which, of course, she couldn't). Rolling her eyes dismissively, she turned on her heel and began to walk back towards her table.

Or tried to.

Ruby was stopped in her tracks by Cardin's hand closing around around her arm, as the older boy growled, "I asked you a question, runt. I don't like being ignored."

Back at team RWBY and JNPR's table, Yang went instantly from morose to flaming angry, eyes shifting from lilac to red. "What the hell does he think he's doing to my sister." Yang growled as she stood up, about to leap over the table and pulverize Cardin. Blake reached a hand over to stop the volatile girl, but she didn't need to.

Because Ruby moved first.

Spinning in Cardin's grip, Ruby used her free arm to fire a punch into Cardin's gut. While Ruby was a small girl, she was also a huntress in training, and the wielder of a very large scythe. Her punch was easily enough to make Cardin release her and double over, gasping for air as he held his stomach. With a flurry of rose petals, Ruby used her semblance to leap the few feet she needed, landing with one foot on the back of Cardin's neck. At his muffled exclamation, Ruby drove her foot down, forcing Cardin forward and down off his feet while she somersaulted in midair, landing softly behind Cardin. Ruby turned towards the rest of team CRDL, giving them each a glare as she did so. The 3 boys stood there gaping at her, as Cardin picked himself up off the ground. "Alright, you little-" Carding ground out as he turned towards her, and the stopped.

Ruby was glaring at him with an expression he had never seen before. It was not the standard expression of fear and doubt he was used to seeing in people like Velvet, for instance. It was a look of pure anger, almost animalistic in its message.

_Back off_.

The standoff lasted for just a few seconds until Cardin looked away. "Come on guys," he mumbled angrily as he began to walk away, "Let's go." Team CRDL followed their leader, throwing a few glances back at the young girl in red behind them as they did so.

Ruby's gaze followed them as they walked away until she abruptly turned and walked back towards her table. She seemed ignorant of the fact that every eye in the cafeteria was following her as she sat down, placed her napkins on the table next to her food, and continued eating.

The cafeteria slowly returned to its previous level of noise as Ruby's tablemates stared at her. Nora was the first to break the silence. "Nice job!" The boisterous girl cheered, despite her previous somberness. "Always good to stick it to the bullies!"

Ruby didn't acknowledge her.

Nora's smile faltered a bit, but she carried on anyways. "That was so cool how you jumped on his head, and kicked his stupid butt into the ground! Where did u learn that?"

"It was a bit nasty, though." Blake commented. "While I don't like Cardin any more than any of you, he hadn't really done anything yet."

"I think she made the right choice." Yang put in, mustering a smile. "Always fighting to make the world a better place, right Rubes?" As she spoke, Yang reached over and patted Ruby's shoulder. Ruby paused in her eating at her sister's touch, frowning a bit. Weiss watched as she blinked slowly, looking confused. A shiver seemed to run through the young girl as her lips moved, as though she were trying to speak.

At that moment, a bell echoed through the cafeteria. "Welp, time for the next class, team!" Jaune said, standing up with his tray. "What do we have, Combat Training now? ...We do, right Pyrrha?"

"Yes Jaune, you remembered." Pyrrha said with a smile, as team JNPR began to walk away from the table. She turned back towards team RWBY, a little slower to move as they were. "We'll see you there, I guess?"

Blake nodded. "See you again in a bit." The Faunus girl stood up, pulling Yang up with her. "Come on guys, we have to go." Blake looked at Ruby. "Is Ruby coming to class with us?"

The confusion clearing from her face, Ruby straightened up in her seat and gave a quick nod. Grabbing her scroll, the young girl glanced at it, then typed for a moment. Holding the scroll up, the rest of Ruby's team read, 'Doc says I'm good enough for classes.' Yang opened her mouth as if to protest, but Ruby had already begun to walk purposefully out of the cafeteria.

The rest of team RWBY looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged. As they moved to catch up with their leader, Weiss trailed behind the other two, caught up in her own thoughts.. Ruby had been trying to say something earlier, she was sure of it. Weiss had taken a few years of lipreading practice, as her father had thought it a useful skill. She thought she knew what Ruby said, but it didn't make sense. As Weiss picked up her pace a bit to move into line with the rest of her team, one thought kept nagging her.

Why would Ruby have tried to answer Yang with, "Fairytales"?

* * *

><p>Remember when I said the goal was a chapter every two weeks? Yeah. Um.<p>

Anyway, another chapter! This one is shorter because I found a decent place to end it, and I wanted to update _something_. I'm sorry- getting myself to write can be a bit difficult sometimes. Anyway, hopefully I'll be a little faster on the next one. If I'm not, feel free to pm me and pressure me into writing- trust me, I'll need it.

As always, leave a review with criticism, complements, etc. and I'll try to answer back. It's always fun talking to you guys.


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